The use of antimicrobial agents on textiles is known. See, e.g., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2003/0204916. Antimicrobial agents have also been used within or on medical devices such as sutures and/or packages containing sutures, including the materials utilized to make such items. However, some medical devices may not provide effective levels of antimicrobial activity for a sufficient period of time. Moreover, as is apparent from U.S. Patent Application Publication Nos. 2004/0068293 and 2004/0068294, antimicrobial agents on medical devices can be undesirably transferred to their packages, requiring the use of higher levels of antimicrobial agents in order to obtain the desired antimicrobial effect upon implantation of the suture or other medical device in vivo.
Accordingly, there is a need for medical devices, packaging materials and textiles that can retain enhanced antimicrobial efficacy. There is also a need for an easy and inexpensive method of incorporating or applying antimicrobial agents to a medical device, packaging material or textile that provides protection against microorganisms for extended periods of time, with minimal loss of the antimicrobial agents from the article and/or minimal transference of the antimicrobial agent to packaging materials, etc. In this way, lower amounts of antimicrobial agents may be utilized to achieve the desired antimicrobial effect.